Boys Basketball: Norristown fights through to victory over Methacton

WEST NORRITON — Norristown was forced to earn a victory Wednesday night, rather than their usually steamrolling of opponents, they had to be disciplined and make the shots that mattered. Methacton came in Norristown’s gym knowing they could keep pace with the 13-3 Eagles if they played strong defense and operated efficiently on the offensive end. But, it in the end, it was the little mistakes that put Methacton down.

It was 9-0 when Methacton coach, Jeff Derstine, called his first timeout. Norristown jumped to an early lead by a flurry of plays high and low — Josh Johnson with four from the post and Luke Kelley with five from range. The run was stagnated by a Matt Forrest three-pointer and so began Methacton’s slow climb into the game.

“That start really slowed us down,” Forrest said, who scored 11 points. “We’re always capable of getting a spark and making a run, but the same goes for the other team.”

Trailing by six to start the second, Methacton’s Forrest and senior star, Brendan Casper, hit two threes to knot the game at 15. However, Norristown bounced right back with seven unanswered and finished the half on a 11-4 run. Methacton played man-to-man all night, and was able to stick a fork in Norristown’s usually unstoppable bigs.

“We play man-to-man all the time, it’s our go-to defense,” Methacton coach Jeff Derstine said. “We have the size to combat Norristown’s size.”

In the third quarter, Methacton shrank the lead to four, but once again, Norristown turned around with seven unanswered and firmly kept the lead in their favor for the rest of the game.

“Norristown came out strong and we dug ourselves a hole early on,” Derstine said. “We fought hard, worked hard on defense, but they had all the answers.”

Norristown kept a body, in Senior center Marquis Bryant, on Casper with another man watching over his shoulder all night. Much of Methacton’s offense runs through Casper, and without the ball in his hands for much of the first half, Methacton was in flux with no clear operation in mind. In the second half, Casper accounted for ten of his team’s 22 in the two quarters, but by then it was too little, too late.

“They played good defense on me, it was tough to get the ball,” Casper said. “We never got into our offense, which is a shame because I know we can compete with this team.”

“We were standing around and giving up turnovers,” Forrest said. “The little mistakes killed us in the end.”